From supporting Nevada’s agricultural research and innovation to mentoring young athletes, Bo Kindred believes the greatest impact comes from sharing knowledge.

Inspired by the mentors who helped shape his own path, he has spent nearly 30 years paying that guidance forward through his work as assistant director for the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources’ Experiment Station and as a high school baseball coach.

“I enjoy being around students and being able to pass along knowledge, but more importantly, pass on life lessons that I’ve learned through my successes and failures,” Kindred said. “You can learn a lot from someone by how they handle themselves, especially through their failures.”

Growing up in Pleasant Valley, California, Kindred developed an appreciation for agriculture at an early age while he raised pigs, cattle, chickens and horses. Athletics also played a significant role in shaping his youth. After participating in various sports, he pursued baseball at Butte College and Lassen College before transferring to the University of Nevada, Reno, where he became a Collegiate All-American boxer.

“Invest in people, lead with integrity and leave every team stronger than you found it.”

Kindred first joined the University as a student employee at Experiment Station’s Main Station Field Lab.  After graduating and spending a short time working on a ranch in Jiggs, Nevada, he returned to the University in 1998, where he has since dedicated his career to supporting the College’s agricultural research.

Today, his work takes him across several Experiment Station sites, including Main Station Field Lab, Gund Ranch Research & Training Facility, and many others throughout the state. His responsibilities vary with the seasons and can include maintaining pastures and alfalfa fields for livestock, repairing infrastructure, hauling livestock and more.

“I love everything about the agricultural Experiment Stations and the College,” Kindred said. “I enjoy working outdoors and seeing the beauty around us every day. I have the best job at the University.”

While Kindred’s career has centered on supporting agriculture, his commitment to mentoring extends beyond the workplace. The same values that guide his work with students and colleagues have also shaped his career as a high school baseball coach.

Kindred has coached high school baseball since 2002 and is currently an assistant coach at Spanish Springs High School. He credits the coaches and mentors from his own athletic career for shaping the person he is today and says coaching gives him the opportunity to pass those lessons on to the next generation. He encourages young people to develop a strong work ethic and understand that success is built through consistent effort. If there is one lesson he hopes every student or player carries with them, it is simple:

"Be a good person," Kindred said. "That will take you further in life than anything else."

This past season, that philosophy helped guide Spanish Springs High School to its first northern regional baseball championship in 15 years. For Kindred, the accomplishment was especially meaningful because he had coached many of the players since they were eight and nine years old.

“Our youth is our future,” Kindred said. “The more people we have mentoring young people, the more it makes our community stronger and gives everyone a better place to live.”

Whether mentoring students on the University's research farm or coaching athletes through another inning, Kindred approaches each role with the same philosophy: invest in people, lead with integrity and leave every team stronger than you found it.